Assessing children's narratives through the lens of intertexual process makes visible children's funds of knowledge. The authors describe two interrelated alternative assessments that teachers can use to make sense of young children's narratives in classroom settings. Implications for promoting an intertextually-rich environment…

Discusses some of the problems of current grading practices and offers suggestions for change, including a few suggestions for dealing with the grading dilemma in literature-based reading programs. (MG)

Examines six challenges that face teachers interested in developing alternative assessments of literacy: (1) clarifying goals; (2) clarifying audiences; (3) selecting and developing assessment techniques; (4) setting performance standards; (5) establishing methods of management; and (6) integrating assessment and instruction. (SR)

Discusses the need for good reading assessment that is authentic and trustworthy with clearly established procedures for gathering information. (MG)

Argues for a more complex view of literate activity guiding curricular and assessment practices. Suggests beginning by counting as basic both a critical literacy and a social imagination--the ability to imagine what it is like to be someone else. (RS)

Incorporates recent conceptualizations of the reading process and implements an alternative assessment with hearing-impaired students. Presents the authors' work as educational evaluators in examining the use of techniques with Deaf students and reports the adaptations required for this population. Concludes that educators of the Deaf can benefit…

Discusses two promising methods (expert systems and interactive computer assessment) of providing teachers with information on which to base their decisions when using comprehension to assess the literacy needs of students. (MG)

Highlights some of the promising avenues to pursue as teachers strive to create alternative literacy assessments. Argues that portfolios of literacy development offer exciting opportunities for teachers to create assessments that engage students in authentic activities and provide genuine guidance for instruction. (MG)

Describes the complex and sometimes conflicting components involved in reading assessment issues and proposes a solution that involves linkages among assessment audiences and approaches. Concludes with remarks about how school districts might pull together all the pieces and solve the assessment puzzle for themselves. (PRA)

Describes the frustrations and successes of seeking student accountability through the assessment of comprehension in literature discussions. Presents journal entries and discussions from three teachers. (MG)

Describes a program intended to help students reflect on, discuss, and evaluate their reading and their accomplishments related to reading. Notes that the program uses a set of materials and procedures based on a Native American winter count (an animal hide or cloth on which the Yankton Sioux recorded important events). (SR)

Presents a variety of literacy evaluation strategies devised and implemented by a teacher who is making the transition to whole language. (MG)

Reviews two recent professional publications concerning alternative assessment: "Portfolio Assessment in the Reading-Writing Classroom" and "Assessment and Evaluation in Whole Language Programs." (MG)

Increasingly, mainstream U.S. classrooms include children who are English-language learners (ELLs). As a result, teachers need to become more aware of ways to assess the literacy progress of their ELL students. The first type of assessment that teachers need to make is to determine ELLs' literacy backgrounds. Teachers can use predictability logs…

Describes how the three paradigms of assessment (assessment as measurement, as procedure, or as inquiry) are similar and how they are different, using writing portfolios to help distinguish between them. Presents several factors that support teachers making a "paradigm shift" from assessment as measurement to assessment as inquiry. Explains…